He's pregnant! Now what?

[State_of_Mind]

Well my male h. reidi seahorse is pregnant it looks like. Based on some research, apparently the hardest species of fry to raise. Even though I don't expect success this first time, I'd like to at least try.

Initial question:

1. How can I know when he'll be delivering?
a. should I put him in a separate tank for them to hatch
b. a fish net/box in the tank
c. Leave him in & put mesh over the overflow and try to siphon as many as I can

Anyone have experience raising the fry specifically reidi and what works/doesn't?

There's a lot to setup, live food to acquire/culture, and time required and I'll try to provide as much as I can.

Try to get pics up tomorrow. Thanks for looking :crazy1:

 

[JLynn]

Congrats! Putting him in a separate tank would be best, but one of those acclimatization boxes that you stick with suction cups to the side of your tank would work too (he would just be a bit cramped). Also, based on what I have heard about seahorse pregnancies, they release "warning fry" a couple days before giving birth to the main group of fry. Just FYI. You might want to take a look at MBI threads and seahorse.org to see how others have raised Reidi fry.

 

[rayjay]

You NEVER know for sure when delivery will happen, even if you view the transfer of eggs to the male.
For my Reidi, it would vary from 15 to 17 days but 15 was the most common.
There are a lot of ways to raise the fry and reidi are definitely harder than those that produce benthic fry like erectus and barbouri.
It took me until my tenth try to succeed, and the method was one I hadn't seen anyone else use, but it works for me.
Raising Reidi Fry

 

[State_of_Mind]

Congrats! Putting him in a separate tank would be best, but one of those acclimatization boxes that you stick with suction cups to the side of your tank would work too (he would just be a bit cramped). Also, based on what I have heard about seahorse pregnancies, they release "warning fry" a couple days before giving birth to the main group of fry. Just FYI. You might want to take a look at MBI threads and seahorse.org to see how others have raised Reidi fry.

Putting him in a separate tank, should I be changing the water 50% each day so there's no ammonia spike? By isolating him in a new environment I hope he doesn't refuse to eat and die

And thank you I never knew about the "warning fry" and I've checked out seahorse.org but I'll be researching a ton more.

 

[State_of_Mind]

You NEVER know for sure when delivery will happen, even if you view the transfer of eggs to the male.
For my Reidi, it would vary from 15 to 17 days but 15 was the most common.
There are a lot of ways to raise the fry and reidi are definitely harder than those that produce benthic fry like erectus and barbouri.
It took me until my tenth try to succeed, and the method was one I hadn't seen anyone else use, but it works for me.
Raising Reidi Fry

Interesting that you don't know. Kinda figured that would be the case. Thank you for your method! I've seen it before and thought it to be very informative. Past the live adult shrimp do you try to get them on frozen mysis and how/when? Thanks a lot for checking out my thread.

 

[State_of_Mind]

Oh and here he is. Kinda hard to see.

 

[ndnreefer]

Gorgeous looking horse!
I highly recommend reading up on seahorse.org forums...DanU, owner of seahorseource I believe, has some great insight into helping with breeding. You will need to setup a kreisel system for the babies to keep them in constant motion. You will also need to start with either rotifers or some other micro organism (parvocalanus). There some simple setups on the site and step by step.

Keep us updated on your progress

 

[rayjay]

In my experience, they don't always give up warning babies, but often they do.
In almost all of the birthings I've experienced, they occurred early in the morning before the lights come on.
As for kreisel use, I've not heard much about their use any more, especially for reidi or other pelagic fry.
You should be able to search on the "org" for muck bucket systems for raising the fry.

 

[Peka]

If you don't want to remove your horse from the tank to another tank. Another option is to create a maternity tank... take a 2.5 gallon plastic goldfish bowl, cut a hole in the side and silicon (aquarium safe) a piece of netting over it. Silicone a hitching post to the bottom inside of the goldfish bowl. You can submerge this into your DT and clamp it onto the side. It keeps the fry in one place when they are born. I used to also put an airline in there for extra oxygen. Some horses do well in the "in tank maternity tank," but some freak out. The important thing is to make sure your horse is eating while he is in there. I always found this to be a much easier method than moving him and doing the 50% water changes daily. the reading that everyone has suggested is a must. dont' be discouraged..... reidi fry are one of the more difficult horses to raise.

 

[H.reidi.MN]

Reidi are pretty tough but not impossible i reared a hand full when i was a junior in high school as and extra credit class I let the male release in the tank and removed fry, however removing the male to release in the fry tank is best. Make sure you parameters match spot on so he isn't stressed and be careful moving him if you go that route.

Good Luck!

 

[State_of_Mind]

Gorgeous looking horse!
I highly recommend reading up on seahorse.org forums...DanU, owner of seahorseource I believe, has some great insight into helping with breeding. You will need to setup a kreisel system for the babies to keep them in constant motion. You will also need to start with either rotifers or some other micro organism (parvocalanus). There some simple setups on the site and step by step.

Keep us updated on your progress

Thank you. Funny you say that b/c my mom is close to Dan and Anne(sp?) and asks them questions all the time. She even named the male Big Dan and the female little Anne. :lmao: Will definitely be asking him some questions.

 

[State_of_Mind]

In my experience, they don't always give up warning babies, but often they do.
In almost all of the birthings I've experienced, they occurred early in the morning before the lights come on.
As for kreisel use, I've not heard much about their use any more, especially for reidi or other pelagic fry.
You should be able to search on the "org" for muck bucket systems for raising the fry.

Early in the morning makes sense and thanks for the alternate opinion on the kreisel systems. I have an large apothecary jar (like a pickle jar) that I will probably use. What's the difference from using many say pickle jars than one large bucket?

 

[State_of_Mind]

If you don't want to remove your horse from the tank to another tank. Another option is to create a maternity tank... take a 2.5 gallon plastic goldfish bowl, cut a hole in the side and silicon (aquarium safe) a piece of netting over it. Silicone a hitching post to the bottom inside of the goldfish bowl. You can submerge this into your DT and clamp it onto the side. It keeps the fry in one place when they are born. I used to also put an airline in there for extra oxygen. Some horses do well in the "in tank maternity tank," but some freak out. The important thing is to make sure your horse is eating while he is in there. I always found this to be a much easier method than moving him and doing the 50% water changes daily. the reading that everyone has suggested is a must. dont' be discouraged..... reidi fry are one of the more difficult horses to raise.

Cool idea. I'll google more about the in tank maternity tank. Thanks for the encouragement. :worried2:

 

[State_of_Mind]

Reidi are pretty tough but not impossible i reared a hand full when i was a junior in high school as and extra credit class I let the male release in the tank and removed fry, however removing the male to release in the fry tank is best. Make sure you parameters match spot on so he isn't stressed and be careful moving him if you go that route.

Good Luck!

Oh nice. I'm a junior in hs now so same situation. Thanks for the advice.

 

[State_of_Mind]

Keep pic coming

Sure will :rollface:

And little Anne

 

[madeyemary]

What a big, beautiful boy. And such a lovely macro tank. Good work. How's he doing??

 

[State_of_Mind]

What a big, beautiful boy. And such a lovely macro tank. Good work. How's he doing??

Thank you He's okay. Have to bring him to the trough (shell where they eat) since he's slow to come or not at all. Rotifers and phyto estimated to be delivered tomorrow so I'll be making the setup tomorrow! Feel like he's a ticking time bomb :uhoh3:

 

[State_of_Mind]

Today his belly looks really large! Any day now it seems. I'm still struggling to gather all resources and answer questions.

***When the fry are born how can I transfer them to where I want? Use a brine shrimp net or is that damaging?

Also I heard they can't reach the surface? Can they not be briefly taken out of water either (like to be netted if that's a possibility).

Thanks. Really need answers on those.

Have a 5 gallon jar & 2 1 gallon buckets for fry, but not sure why they can't all be in the 5 gallon jar for the first few days or week.

Going to home depot today to get buckets for rotifer cultures. They were supposed to arrive today. Think they're still in transit though :/

I'll start mixing saltwater for the culture and nursery tanks.

Did more research and seahorse.org is especially helpful as well as rayjay's site! Much appreciation for the links.

 

[rayjay]

I've used turkey basters in my earlier harvesting, but in the end I went to using a brine net to remove them and quickly place them in my pickle jars with open ended air line for motion to keep the fry from pausing at the top.
I always have enough motion so that the fry cannot make their own way wherever they wish, but are at the mercy of the water flow. They still have no problem feeding. You don't want them to pause for any time at the surface where they could suck air in and cause problems usually leading to death.
Many people use large tubs for their fry. In my case, I just find it easier to do regular every other day total cleaning of the containers when I use the jars. It works also for me to be able to line up a dozen jars on a shelf, out of the way and not using up any more floor space as the shelf is over top of the brine shrimp cultures.
Main thing is to have something you are comfortable with, but still find it easy to do a complete cleaning often as the bacteria slime builds up on all surfaces and you want to get rid of that.

 

[State_of_Mind]

I've used turkey basters in my earlier harvesting, but in the end I went to using a brine net to remove them and quickly place them in my pickle jars with open ended air line for motion to keep the fry from pausing at the top.
I always have enough motion so that the fry cannot make their own way wherever they wish, but are at the mercy of the water flow. They still have no problem feeding. You don't want them to pause for any time at the surface where they could suck air in and cause problems usually leading to death.
Many people use large tubs for their fry. In my case, I just find it easier to do regular every other day total cleaning of the containers when I use the jars. It works also for me to be able to line up a dozen jars on a shelf, out of the way and not using up any more floor space as the shelf is over top of the brine shrimp cultures.
Main thing is to have something you are comfortable with, but still find it easy to do a complete cleaning often as the bacteria slime builds up on all surfaces and you want to get rid of that.

]

Just what I needed to know. Makes a lot more sense why they shouldn't be too close to the water surface. Very helpful info as usual :thumbsup: